DEEPER WALK: A Spirit Life Devotional(And Jesus spoke in tongues?)

Did Jesus ever pray in tongues? This is one of the famous lines used by those who have decided not to do anything with praying in tongues or praying in the Spirit. And so in this blog post and discourse today I will like to take on this controversial question and show for scriptures how the master prayed in tongues! Yes, there is no direct evidence that stated explicitly that the master prayed in tongues but neither is there direct explicit evidence that said he didn't pray in tongues! However, the evidence of him praying in tongues no matter how indirect they seem to be a point in clear terms that Jesus prayed in tongues and also want us to embrace this language of the Spirit, he was the first to prophesy this spiritual invasion of the Spirit of God with it's new language.

In the new testament, there are two characters that spoke on the subject of praying in tongues more than others, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul and we will look at what both had to say on this subject.

First, it was Jesus that introduced us to the signs of what the life of a spirit-filled believer will exhibit. In Mark 16:16-19 Jesus speaking said,

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover"

Here Jesus gave us a glimpse of how the spirit-filled believers will be lived: supernaturally! And the evidence of this supernatural life was provided: they will cast out devils, they will speak with new tongues and become immune as it were to the dangerous elements of this present world! Hallelujah! This was why when Paul was bitten by a snake on the island of Malta he came to no hurt!

All that Jesus said in the above scriptures are evidence of a life that has been filled with the Spirit of God! First, to preach the gospel the believer must necessarily receive the empowerment of the Spirit. This was the crux of Jesus' argument in Luke 24:49, he told them to wait to receive the power of the Spirit before they venture out to preach the word. Same thing he reiterated in Acts 1:8. Simply put without the power of the Spirit we cannot give expression to the power of the gospel!

The master talked also about casting out devils, this is impossible without the power of the Spirit also. When Jesus was accused of casting out evil spirits by Beelzebub, he gave a reply that provides insight into how devils are cast out. Matthew 12:28 is the scripture:

"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God comes unto you"

Simply put we exorcised demons by the demonstration of the power of the Spirit. Wherever the power of the Spirit is demonstrated demons and devils are cast out!

All that Jesus talked about in Mark 16:16-19 is evidence of the Spirit-filled life and one of them is speaking in new tongues! Just like preaching the gospel, casting out demons are evidence of the Spirit-filled life, so also is speaking in tongues! And we saw that in Acts 2:1-4 when the Apostles were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues like Jesus prophesied. Now, If its the same Spirit of God that fell upon Jesus was the same one that is upon us then it means that same Spirit that makes us speak in tongues also makes the master spoke in tongues! And remember this language is the language of the Spirit, the language of the heavenly and I believe that is a language that the master is no stranger to! Or how else does he converse with the father except through the language of the Spirit?

Mark 16:16-19 wasn't the first place the master talked about the Spirit's life been evidenced by speaking in tongues. In John 3 Jesus spoke at length to Nicodemus what happens to a life that has experienced a spiritual rebirth, a life that has been born again. John 3:7 is the most popular scripture where Jesus said you must be born again. The word again translated from the Greek word actually means 'from above', heavenly and spiritual. In another word what gets us into God's kingdom is a spiritual rebirth. Now going down further in verse 8 Jesus now liken this experience to the blowing of the wind

John 3:8
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit"

Everyone born of the Spirit is compared to wind. The Greek word normally used for wind in the scripture is anemos, but here the word used was pneuma, which normally translates to Spirit.
Furthermore, the word translated “sound” is the Greek word phone, which means “voiced” or “languages.” It is translated by Vincent in his classic word studies the following way, “Thou heardest His voice…”The Latin Vulgate translates it “hear His voice.” Our English word phonetics comes from that word. It means articulated words. Could it be that Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the Spirit will articulate phonetically a new language? Could it possibly be translated, “The Spirit blows where it wishes and you hear the articulated language, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes? So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”?

When Rome brought its kingdom to conquer another land, it brought a language with them—the Greek language, which was the universal language of that day. When God's Spirit broke through in Acts 2, it broke through with the wind and also come with its own articulated language, the language of the Spirit, spoken by angels and all the heavenlies, and definitely spoken by the Son to communicate with the rest of the Godhead! When in Genesis 1:26, God said to the other members of the Godhead to "come and let us make man in our own image' what language were they speaking? It is the language of the Spirit, the tongues that angels also speak, the language of the Spirit. That language with which you can have direct communication with God was released to man when the Holy Ghost first invaded our natural space with its power and might!

Jesus knew this language, spoke this language and promised the release of this new language when the Spirit of God invades the earth. He promised this language whereby newborns into the kingdom will learn and use to converse with their father! The language of the Spirit is the new articulated sound of those who have been born with power into the kingdom! With this language mysteries are spoken directly to the father!

1 Corinthians 14:2
"For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries"

A deeper walk and fellowship with God will be practically impossible without engaging as often as possible this language of the Spirit.

DEEPER WALK: A Spirit Life Devotional(A Tale ...

DEEPER WALK: A Spirit life Devotional(An Act ...

PETER ADESHINA BABALOLA(PAB) is a lover of God and a teacher of His word. His 20 years in ministry has seen him served as a pastor in major ministries in Nigeria where he planted and pastored many churches across the nation.
From Port Harcourt to Uyo to Akure to Lagos, PAB has been privileged to affect lives through the preaching and teaching of the word.
An insightful teacher and writer, PAB writes for blogs and magazines across the nation as well teaching the word across the length and breadth of the land and beyond.
Reach PAB by mail: pab@powertalk.com.ng 08087872077 facebook.com/peter adeshina babalola. twitter/pabspeaks